*channels her inner Rockapella* Where In the World Is Cuba Gooding Jr.?

That's not as catchy as "Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"*, is it?

But, ol' Cuba *was* in a Southern California location last night...specifically, the locker room celebration held by the Anaheim Ducks after their much coveted AND maligned Stanley Cup win.

Per Yahoo/Associated Press: "Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. sipped beer in the victorious dressing room."

Y'know, when I did my Stanley Cup picture book thing last year (which I'd link to, but unfortunately, a lot of the pictures are now gone...including the one of Cuba and Ray Whitney... (sighs) ), I thought I was kidding about Gooding Jr. being there for the Bud Light. o_O

Unfortunately, I could not find any picture proof of the said actor being there...so I'll post the following, making us wonder whether the dude on the left was there too or not...


Current Music: "Been Caught Stealing" by Jane's Addiction

* - One of my latest geek trips has been rediscovering a precious gem from my childhood in the greatest kids game show ever, EVER made: Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, which was based on a just as brilliant computer game series (before The Learning Company came along and messed it up).

To check it out for yourself, just click here to access my YouTube Favorites, where you'll see that my most recent favorited videos are from the aforementioned show. Simply a paradise for not only geography geeks, but also music and entertainment ones too...god, I love Rockapella. At least their 90's incarnation, anyway.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ANAHEIM DUCKS!!!

Congrats to the Ducks...who, with their winning good ol' Lord Stanley, have completed an interesting coincidence. Like the Canes making up for their 2002 loss with their 2006 win, the Ducks made up for their 2003 loss with tonight's win.

Oh, Senators...maybe, MAYBE I would have pity for you if it weren't for a certain shot that your Captain did in Game Four. Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Current Music: "Phantom Lord" by Metallica

What A Mess!

Between the majority of the potential lineups AND the following revelation, I cannot help but swear that the hockey gods really have it in for yours truly with this year's fight for Lord Stanley...

"A few folks have also asked whether Peter Laviolette or John Forslund will be involved in the coverage of the Conference Finals on Versus in the coming weeks. As far as I know, Laviolette will not be, as NHL favorite son Mark Messier joins the Versus studio cast. There is a chance that Forslund may get to broadcast at least one game of the Western Conference Final between Anaheim and Detroit, but we are still waiting for confirmation one way or another on that. I do know that the Versus brass has been very pleased with the work of both men during their Stanley Cup coverage."

EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

While I cannot say it is quite well known/notorious, I do have quite the dislike for The Mess, as I've come to call him. And while there are a bunch of things I could write in regards to his "analysis" having a presence on Versus over Laviolette's (who wowed the boys in the studio, in what little I saw of good ol' Pete's stint), I think I'll just let PackNCanes at the Score Boards do the talking...

"Oh good, His Regal Splendor Emperor Mark I will be gracing my airwaves again.

I sincerely hope he hands out a Mark Messier Leadership Award for each shift. And that he stops the game after each shift to do so. While they're at it, considering the events of the past week, why not have Messier resurrect Barbaro? That'd drive the ratings through the roof."

At the risk of sounding incredibly insensitive about (channels her inner John Cleese) the ex-horse, has a racehorse and his/her injury ever gotten as much coverage as Barbaro?! The way the media has been acting, it's like he is the first ever racehorse to have a critical injury...which is highly ridiculous, considering that, quite unfortunately, critical injuries happen to horses all the time at races. Such is AND has always been one of the hazards of the sport.

All that said, the fact that there has been more than necessary coverage about Barbaro is quite telltale about what a softie country we have become...if you ask me, anyway.

Going back to The Mess, let's not even get into that friggin' Leadership Award again...other than I don't know what makes that "award" more of a joke: Messier's name literally being all over it OR the fact that it's first recipient ever was Brendan Shanahan. Yes siree Bob, whenever I think of leadership, I think of the dude who practically whined his way out of Hartford and into Detroit...oh yeah. *rolls her eyes*

Current Music: "All Blues" by Miles Davis and Friends

Cake Or Death?

That pretty much sums up how I feel about the upcoming NHL Conference Finals...with the Ducks being 'Cake' and those other three teams being 'Death'. Knowing my darned luck, the Cake will run out before it comes around to me, I.E. makes the Stanley Cup Finals. And folks, if it comes down to Detroit/Buffalo or Ottawa (no lesser of two evils on my side of the continent and NHL..sorry), chances are that I will not lay an eye upon a single game of this season's SC Finals for the very first time in my five year NHL fandom career. Sorry, but I *really* do dislike those three teams *that much*.

But, it won't be like I will not have anything to do...especially with my ever-growing Adventure Quest addiction. Of course, you'd be addicted too if you were doing as well at the game as I am doing. And if you're wondering what the heck all those items I currently possess are...well, read a book.

BTW, is it just me (and Best Week Ever), or does this highly-anticipated-for-over-ten-years Guns 'N' Roses release, "Chinese Democracy", sound like a horrible Godsmack tribute band? o_O

And I'm saying that based on the one Godsmack song I heard on MTV2 one day and kinda liked when I was in late middle school/early high school. Looking back on that, the only conclusion I can draw was that I'd had a *really* rotten day at school that day, and that song (I wanna say it was called "Leave Me Alone", but don't hold me up to that) summed up my mood perfectly.

Current Music: "The Pilgrim" by Wishbone Ash

Answering the Call

I.E. Yours truly somewhat goes Patti Smith on the Caniac Nation (or at least the members who happen to hang out at the Score Boards)...film at eleven.

I woke up to seeing the following posted at my most frequented Canes MB this morning...

OK, perhaps I'm missing something here--why does it seem that Debi and I are about the only ones here who wouldn't mind the Sens winning the Cup?

Did we suddenly develop a group hate-on for the Sens when I wasn't looking or something?

Naturally, everyone posted "Nope." and "Me too." or something of similar clique-like ilk...making me state that the following has been my opinion for sometime, without the need or want of being different from everyone else:

I don't want Ottawa winning the Cup.

And before I proceed with the following, I've met and I know nice Ottawa fans. But, I have my reasons and/or observations...

*insert canned Beatlemaniac and Elvis fan screams here* - In a phenomenon I have yet to be able to fully grasp in all five years thus far of being a Caniac/NHL fan/etcetera, the Ottawa Senators seem to be THE one opposing NHL team that bring out the inner puckbunny in the Caniac Nation. While I do have my tendencies in that vein (I *am* a female AND only human, afterall), I have just never found the Sens to be all that and a bag of a chips in those regards.

I can only imagine how much louder the swoons would get if Jose Theodore joined the Sens, be it as their star or just a mere backup (most likely behind Emery)... o_O

I Pity the Fools Who Pull For Dany Heatley - Well, maybe I'm being a little extreme in calling his fans "fools", but I just cannot pull for the dude who used to be such a thorn in the side of the Canes during his tenure with the Thrashers. Not to mention a certain accident I'm not supposed to mention again...and even though I know Heater highly regretted what he did, I still think he should have been penalized one way or another instead of simply being let go to play another day.

I Don't Like Daniel Alfredsson, Sam I Am - I won't go into elaborate detail on this...I just do not care for the guy. He tends to grate on my nerves as much as another so-called great captain in the Sabres' Daniel Briere. And just like the Sabres, the only thing Danny-Boy (Batman's butler-sson) is good for, besides crying a river at certain times, is Fantasy Hockey...

Actually, when one thinks about it, the Senators are basically Canada's Buffalo Sabres. Just without the mouthy coach and hoardes of drunks invading the opposing team's arena in addition to their own team's.

Anyways...with the Penguins out (no thanks to the Senators...as mentioned, I *am* only human), I am very hardpressed to find someone I *really* want to pull for in this year's playoffs. Between Ottawa and New Jersey, and Buffalo and the Rangers*, there is really no lesser of four evils in the East...leaving the West to look to. And therefore, only two teams I can really care for...Anaheim and Vancouver. The Canucks I'm willing to back up a little more thanks to knowing at least one friend in British Columbia's hub. The Ducks are appealing too, especially with my fond memories of backing them up in 2003...if only they didn't have that pukey and minor league-ish logo and uniforms... *sighs*

Despite fashion taste differences, I still say that this should be the Ducks' anthem.

Current Music: "Gates of Babylon" by Rainbow

* - The only good thing about that particular playoff series is that it constantly makes me think of one of Billy Joel's finer songs in "New York State of Mind"...

No, I'm Not Dead...

But I've been quite busy lately...

Thursday and Friday: Got my hair done at the salon and did a special Clinique spa and makeover at the nearby mall, respectively.

Saturday: Had a Subway lunch that could not be beat and did some hiking over at Pipestem State Park.

Sunday: Did some cleaning tasks that were much needed to be done.

Tuesday: Took my dog and cat to the vet and then did my weightbearing exercise for the week, thanks to Mountaineer Lanes' 99 cent rate every Tuesday. Also installed my new stereo...more on that when I get a chance to write about more.

Today: Helped my mom out with Curves' Bring A Friend day, and got to take in the Curves experience. I actually enjoyed it...but at thirty dollars a month (not including the sign-up fee!!), I think my stationary bike, walking/hiking, and bowling are sufficient enough. Also did some grocery shopping.

This weekend: Got company coming, and have to get ready for them...also get to look forward to playing bartender.

On the Canes fandom front...I got to see a little bit of Coach Laviolette trying his mouth at being an analyst in the VS. studio tonight. I was lucky enough to view the time of the night when he was feeling more comfortable and confident...according to some Score Boarders, he started out being a bit nervous. Overall, he was doing a great job for his first time...though, it was a little odd seeing Lavs singing the praises of the Sluggies... o_O Of course, guess it's kind of hard to not do that, considering how they wiped the Rangers tonight...

Current Music: "My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane